Here I am

Sorry about the absence, oh loyal 2.5 readers. Unfortunately, I still don't have much to say...I'm back at the old job, which is still boring but soothingly so - at least so far. I don't have the urge to beat myself senseless with any computer machinery yet, which I think is a good sign, but I am currently in the midst of my second back-to-back six day work week, so maybe things will have changed by Saturday.

I'm trying to think of something cool and Halloween-esque to blog about, but alas, nothing is coming to mind. You know, Halloween has slowly evolved into perhaps my favorite holiday, probably because it's so refreshingly juvenile, has no current religious affiliations, has no real family aspect (I don't feel pressured to spend a month's salary to fly home and see my parents on Halloween), and is a holiday built around these three things: a) dressing up in costume, b) scaring oneself (or others) silly for no apparent reason other than that it's fun, and c) giving and receiving vast quantities of candy, again for no apparent reason. Yay! It's better than St. Patrick's Day, another basically frivolous holiday, because while yes, drinking vast amounts of green beer can be enjoyable, where's the creativity? Like it's really that difficult to find a piece of green clothing to wear. And there is no candy involved, so end of story. New Years' Eve, which is the only other real non-religious holiday celebrated in North America that has no solemn aspect to it, also comes in behind Halloween for the lack of candy.

OMG, get this. I just found a Halloween meme, yo!

Halloween Meme

1. What is your favorite work of horror fiction?
I'm trying to think of something more original than Dracula. How about Turn of the Screw, by Henry James? Freaked the shit out of me. I'm on the waiting list for Scott Smith's The Ruins, which I hear is poop-your-pants scary.

2. What is your favorite work of science fiction/fantasy?
Hmm, it's been awhile since I've read anything in either genre. I guess I would go with 1984, although I think it fits better into dystopia fiction, but whatever.

3. What is your favorite monster?
Well, if we're talking generically, I would have to say vampires. They are the shit. (I seem to be scatalogically-focused this evening. Sorry.) They sleep in coffins, they suck blood, and they can turn into bats, wolves, and mist. I'm sorry, what else can do that? Plus they're sexy.

4. What horror movie gives you the most chills?
Well, for sheer post-traumatic stress syndrome terror, I would have go with The Ring, which haunted me for weeks. I think it was because of the disconcerting images, which have a tendency to stay with me, particularly in the middle of the night when I have to pee. They have since been milked to the point of ridiculousness in all the Japanese horror remake movies, but I still avoid them for the sake of unterrified sleep.

5. Freddy versus Jason?
Whatever.

6. What is your favorite Halloween treat?
As far as things you can only get at Halloween? Candy corn.

7. Ghosts or goblins?
Ghosts, I guess. Goblins are basically little people with a bad attitude. How can they be scary?

8. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?
Do not have one.

9. Do you believe in ghosts?
No, although I still get creeped out thinking about them when I'm alone at night. I think basically I'm just a wuss.

10. Favorite Halloween costume?
One year I dressed up as the character Beetlejuice, from the eponymous movie. I bought a black-and-white striped prisoner outfit from a costume store, and had my mom cut up the shirt and sew it into a suit jacket. It was great, although I doubt very many people understood what I was supposed to be. I think I was in sixth grade at the time - one of my last years trick-or-treating.